Noonan's journey reaches MLS goal

TORONTO -- It's a long way from Alesund, Norway to Columbus, Ohio, but it's a journey that Pat Noonan has taken to get back on an MLS scoring sheet.

The veteran striker scored for the first time in almost a year to lead the Crew to a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday.

"I'm hoping to just come in and contribute," Noonan said. "There's a lot of guys fighting for spots and tonight I was able to get a start and get a goal. I'm happy to be here."

Noonan is a six-year veteran of Major League Soccer, first breaking into the league in 2003 with the New England Revolution. The versatile attacker scored 37 goals in 119 games with the Revs through 2007, including a league-high 30 points in 2004 that tied him with Amado Guevara for the MLS Scoring Champion Award.

Injuries hampered Noonan over the last two seasons, however, and as a result he was let go by the Revolution following last season. Noonan signed with Aalesunds FK of the Norwegian Premier League and played 11 games for the team known as the Tangoshirts before signing with the Crew on August 6.

Since returning, Noonan has played in five games and Saturday's match was his second start, as regular forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto was out with a hamstring injury.

"It was the right time for me to come back," Noonan said. "I've come back into a great situation with a team that's having a successful year."

He couldn't have picked a better time to rediscover his scoring touch, either, as the Crew were trailing TFC, 1-0, after 40 minutes and looked out of sorts on attack without Schelotto leading the way. Noonan carried the ball almost from midfield and cut across the middle, freezing two Toronto defenders expecting him to race closer to the net.

Instead, Noonan stopped and launched a high shot that eluded Reds goalkeeper Greg Sutton and found the back of the net. It was Noonan's first goal in almost a full calendar year, as he last scored on Sept. 15, 2007 as a member of the Revolution.

"I was able to turn with the ball and I carried it in waiting for a defender to step and maybe get a one-two because I thought I was a little far out," Noonan said. "I think I was able to get Tyrone [Marshall] to bite a little bit and brought it back to the left and put it in."

The draw extends the Crew's unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) and ensures that they will leave the weekend's action still in first place overall in the league table. Columbus head coach Sigi Schmid pointed to Noonan's goal as an example of the depth that has been a big part of the Crew's success.

"One of the reasons we brought Noonan here was because we knew he could play in that position," Schmid said. "He scored a great goal today. Stefani [Miglioranzi] stepped in [for Brad Evans]. Emmanual Ekpo, he's only been back a little more than a week after being gone for a month with the Olympics, we're trying to round him into shape but everyone saw his quality in the last 15 minutes of the game. I've never been disappointed about our depth."

Despite Schelotto missing Saturday's game and Frankie Hejduk and Alejandro Moreno absent last week to international duty, the Crew finished those two games with four points. Schmid said his team's strong character keeps them from worrying about injuries or absences.

"We're not wasting time talking about [who's not here], we're talking about who's on the field," he said.

While a draw on the road is always a good result, the game continued a disturbing trend for Columbus. They fell behind on a sixth-minute goal when Amado Guevara passed a direct free kick opportunity to Carl Robinson, who launched a shot past the wall and goalkeeper Will Hesmer.

"We talked about their re-starts and we're disappointed that we gave up that first goal, especially within five minutes," Hesmer said. "It's a ball that I wasn't able to see, I didn't see it until too late obviously. I want it back because I think it's a ball I could save."

The early disappointment was compounded a few minutes later, when the Crew were awarded a penalty kick. Schelotto is the Black-and-Gold's penalty kick specialist with four goals in as many attempts this season, but with Schelotto out, the duty fell to Moreno, who didn't get a full foot on the ball and sent a weak attempt that was easily saved.

It all added up to yet another slow start for the Crew. Columbus has allowed a league-high eight goals within the first 15 minutes of games this season. This disturbing trend gets worse on artificial surfaces --- four of those early goals allowed came in three games in New York, Salt Lake City and Toronto.

"We've played four games on turf this year and in three of them we've conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes of the game," Schmid said. "So this time being able to come back form that was a positive. Dealing with the psychological blow of missing a penalty kick, you know, was also something we needed to come back from. I was proud of that. I was also disappointed, in a way, because we created some chances and had the run of play at times and should have done a bit better with our chances."

The early deficits are a problem that the Crew will have to correct if they want to advance in the MLS playoffs, but the team can already add one trophy to its case for 2008. The draw clinched the first-ever Trillium Cup for Columbus, as the Black-and-Gold won the season series between the two regional rivals.

The Trillium Cup may not be quite in the same league as the MLS Cup (or even the Norwegian Cup), but it's still an honor that Noonan is proud to have.

"I want to win all the trophies that we can," Noonan said. "Hopefully it's a start towards another trophy at the end of the year, but hey, a trophy is a trophy and we're happy to win it over a good team."